Oedipus and the blind prophet free#
The theme of fate and free will develops as the prophecy is fulfilled ignoring the facts does not change them. It is in his capacity as the king that he marries only to realize later that he married his own mother. Oedipus then goes on to become king of Thebes.
Unfortunately, on his way, he meets his real father, Laius, and kills him instantly. After Oedipus discovers his prophecy, he escapes from his adopted parents thinking they are his true parents. Luckily, for Oedipus, a shepherd rescues him and takes him to Polybus and Merope for adoption. However, his parents, Laius and Jocasta, are metaphorically blind to this truth and to escape reality, they deport him to mountains where they hope Oedipus will die hence nullify this prophecy. “An oracle foretold that the child born to him by his queen Jocasta would slay his father and wed his mother” (Johnston 2). His life starts on a bad note after a prophecy reveals that he would marry his mother after killing his father. Oedipus the King: SummaryĪs the play opens, Oedipus is doomed to tragedy. Nevertheless, King Oedipus is the biggest victim of ‘truth’ blindness, which is used as the symbol of escaping and refusal to admit the reality. It appears that truth and physical sight cannot coexist. Oedipus confirms this when he gouges his eyes after knowing the truth. Physical sight comes at the expense of truth whilst knowing the truth comes at the expense of sight. Therefore, in this play, the sighted like Oedipus and Jocasta are ‘blind’ to the truth whilst the blind like Teiresias can see the truth. Even after knowing the truth, she deliberately rejects it. Similarly, Jocasta is physically sighted but blind to the truth. On the other hand, king Oedipus is sighted however, he cannot see the truth as the play starts even though he makes himself physically blind as the play ends. Teiresias is physically blind and happens to be a prophet he stands for truth. As aforementioned, the play by Sophocles explores blindness from two angles, physical blindness and inability to see the truth for the sighted. The theme of blindness in Oedipus Rex is one of the main tragedy’s underlying themes. Thus, there are two types of blindness, figurative and literal. This paper aims at researching blindness in Oedipus Rex and Hamlet as there are both physical blindness and inability to see and accept the truth amongst the sighted. Ironically, sighted people are in most cases “blind” to the future or the realities and truths of the present. In most cases, physically blind can see future events. Interestingly, those with physical blindness, in many cases have a special gift of seeing invisible things that those sighted cannot see. People may be physically blind wherein they cannot see their surroundings on the other hand, people may have physical sight but be ‘blind’ towards truth or reality.
In Sophocles’ Oedipus (the initial name of the play is Oedipus Tyrannus) and Shakespeare’s Hamlet, blindness is deeply explored. In literature, writers use different literary elements to expound their work.
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